The Pentagon is losing another top official.
Robert Daigle, the director of the Department of Defense’s Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation, will leave his post at the Pentagon in May, media reports say. Daigle’s office, known as CAPE, is responsible for providing the secretary of defense with independent analysis to influence decisions on the Pentagon’s budget.
Daigle’s office was a key force behind the Pentagon’s plan to decommission the USS Harry S. Truman two decades early and the decision to purchase a new version of Boeing’s F-15X for the Air Force.
The Pentagon’s plan to decommission the USS Harry S. Truman was met with opposition from lawmakers including Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., who said he was “disturbed” by the possibility. Vice President Mike Pence announced Tuesday that the aircraft carrier would not be decommissioned, hours after reports emerged that Daigle was stepping down from his post.
According to a Pentagon official, Daigle believes he’s completed his goals at the Pentagon and wants to work in the private sector.
“He thinks he has accomplished what he set out to accomplish, and he wants to rejoin the private sector,” the source told Defense News.
Daigle’s departure will mark another major vacancy at the Pentagon. Already, the Pentagon is currently headed by acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, who has been serving in an acting capacity since former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis resigned in December.
Additionally, there currently is an acting deputy secretary of defense and an acting chief management officer at the Pentagon. Another top post will also be vacant in the near future, as Daigle’s departure coincides with that of Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, who is also slated to leave the administration next month.
“The proliferation of actings is not helpful for the department,” a former senior defense official told Foreign Policy. “Getting people confirmed in these roles is really important.”
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Washington Examiner.
Daigle is set to testify before the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces on Thursday for the panel’s hearing on “Department of the Air Force Acquisition and Modernization Programs.” He previously worked for the House Armed Services Committee before joining the Pentagon in 2017.
